Novus Initium
by ForeverBlazing
Summary: After falling behind a bit in her training, Lauren is ecstatic when she is invited to a tournament. Unfortunately, the appearance of a shady group of people guarantees that the tournament will be anything but safe.
1. Introduction

Lauren was in a funk.

Not having trained for several months tended to do that to someone. Even if they've trained for almost seven years. Heck, she didn't even think she could stand up to someone younger than her. She sat at the non-descript bench, a bored expression plastered across her pale face, hands cleaning her glasses. Arceus, the damn bench was so uncomfortable. She knew her home town wasn't exactly one of the most comfortable places in the world, but this was ridiculous. She grunted, shifting in her seat and looked over her shoulder. A large blue bird lay beside her, his neck stretched out on the itchy grass.

"_Tar..."_ her starter cooed, his tired expression not leaving. Lauren reached her hand out and pat him on his head.

"Zephyr, how about we do some training today?" she asked in a monotone voice. The bird barely moved his eyes to look back at her. After several seconds, he raised his long blue head, and Lauren beamed at the success. Until he threw his neck back down to the grass and closed his eyes again. Not long after, he began snoring. Yep, big success there.

"You suck, Zephyr. You really, really suck." She pulled out a black pokeball and threw it at him harder than she usually would. He was caught in a huge red beam and disappeared into the sphere, which flew back to Lauren. She huffed in defeat. Not even her pokémon were motivated...

She leaned back into the horrible bench and closed her eyes. She pretended for a few seconds that closing them as tight as she could would make her fall asleep quicker. Yeah, that was a load of BS...

Suddenly, she perked up. A tall boy stood in front of her, a bit too close for comfort. She fell back into the rough bench, gasping in surprise. Her blue beret-like hat flew off her head, and she jumped to her feet, shuffling to get it. The boy laughed, his squeaky voice sounding quite out of place for someone his size. Lauren almost doubled over laughing.

"So... 'sup." He flashed her a fake-looking toothy grin. Yeah, this encounter was going to be awkward. Lauren inwardly groaned, her finger nervously tracing the white rim on the bottom of her hat. What could this guy want with her? She was just a regular 17-year-old trainer. A lazy one. _And an unhygienic one, at that,_ she thought as she fingered her messy brown locks. Squeaky Voice Guy gave her another annoying smile.

"Yeah, so there's this new tournament that's going on in the Orre Region. Lots of experienced trainers'll be there." Damn, his voice was squeaky. Just how old was this guy, anyway?

Squeaky Voice Guy flashed her a black pokeball-printed card. She could do nothing but stare at it for a few seconds. Finally, looking up at his impatient face, she (politely) snatched it out of his hand, and began reading it. "'Finis Tournament.'" She flipped it over to find a bit more information on where it took place. Huh. Orre. She hadn't ever been there before.

"It's invitation only. Original name, huh?" She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Anyway, the plane leaves first thing tomorrow. Lilycove City. Flash this invitation, and you're good to go. No cash required."

Lauren raised an eyebrow. It sounded pretty damn sketchy, but she figured she was looking too far into it. Nevertheless, she shrugged jubilantly, excited at the notion of actually getting back into competitive battling.

"You better leave immediately, if you want to go..." he piped, a sly smile starting to creep on his face. Lauren nodded enthusiasticly, and got up from her bench. She pulled out her luxury ball, and released Zephyr. She hopped onto his back and took one last glance at Squeaky Voice Guy before taking to the skies.

She didn't get a chance to hear him mutter one last phrase:

"Pity that these trainers are so gullible..."

* * *

_If you're wondering, no, the shady group is NOT Cipher. _

_Anyway, I'm going to need a lot of OCs. Yep, that's right. In fact, if I really like them, they'll play an important role in the story. Be sure to carefully follow the form, and read every bit.  Good luck!_

**_Name_: First and last**

**_Age_: 10 and up, of course.**

**_Gender_: You're not going to have a problem with this one. Or, at least, you shouldn't...**

**_Hometown_: Any town that exists in canon, whether it be Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Orre, Almia, Fiore, Oblivia, ****whatever.**

**_Eye color_: Any color of the rainbow is fine, as long as it isn't rainbow or color-changing**

**_Accessories_: Scarves, hats, glasses, necklaces, what-have-you.**

**_Hair Color_: Any color is fine, except for all of them combined into one (unless they're a clown or something idk)**

**_Hairstyle_: Go crazy, and try to be detailed. Is it thick, curly? Thin? Unhealthy/split ends?**

**_Bag-style_: Fanny pack, purse-like, back-pack, suitcase, no bag?**

**_Bag Contents_: Medicine, pokeballs, personal items, matches (if they don't have a fire-type), sleeping bags, etcetera. Don't forget ****the hygiene items. Unless they're that type... you know what I mean.**

**_Height_: Because I'm American, I'm more used to seeing feet and inches, but whatever floats your boat.**

**_Body Type_: For females, you have quite a variety to choose from. Curvy (big boobs, big butt, big thighs, tiny waist), banana-  
shaped (skinny throughout; no boobs or butt), pear-shaped (flattish boobs, small waist, big butt, big thighs) apple-shaped (small  
butt, larger arms/stomach/breasts) muscular (this is unisexual, but they must have a reason why they have muscles - the average  
joe has little to none) anorexic skinny (skin and bones, sickly-looking, you know the drill), chubby (varying degrees on this one,  
please specify), whatever. The last three can be body types for both men and women.**

**_Skin Color_: pale, fair, tan, black, etc. But try to keep it realistic.**

**_Clothes_: Try to at least keep it interesting. A plain white t-shirt and jeans is not interesting and doesn't say a lot about ****their personality. Spice it up! Also, because they're trainers, I wouldn't exactly recommend flip-flops and miniskirts.**

**_Pokeball belt style _: Color, thickness, maybe a pattern? A pokeball belt holds 6 minimized balls.**

**_Scent_: This can be lavender, mint, lime, B.O. or anything really. It helps me get a picture of them.**

**_Personality_: At least 8 sentences, 10 traits. Include how they act when they're happy, sad, angry, scared, embarassed, and various other details.**

**_History/Accomplishments_: Most trainers start out when they're ten, but if you have a good reason, you can wait a while. Just ****keep in mind that a 15-year-old starting out wouldn't have much of an upper hand when training pokemon. Also keep in mind ****that in my canon, it takes an average of about one year to complete a region (includes badges and league). ****So you'd have to be at least eleven to have one complete set of badges. On the other hand, don't give a 16 year old only one or ****two complete sets unless they have a good reason. A 16 year old should have 5 or 6 complete sets, assuming they started at age ****10.**

**_Pokémon_: Six Pokemon (unless they're 10 or 11, in which case they can have four or five), list strongest to weakest... No legendaries, only one starter pokémon, and limit yourself to only one eeveelution. Also, don't give ****a 10 or 11-year old fully evolved pokémon. I also wouldn't recommend giving an 18-year old unevolved pokémon****. All of your pokémon should be fully evolved after you have 3 complete sets of badges. **

**Include 6-8 moves (no less!), Ability, Personality, how they were obtained, pokeball used, and physical differences from others of their species. Password to accept your OC is "this oc is one of the better ones" (include it in your pm somewhere). I'm not saying that your Jolteon can be blue. Maybe it has smaller spikes or is larger than others of its species. Or has a held item. I dunno, go crazy. Also, I'm getting a lot of charizards and blazikens so could you guys not send those anymore? I don't really like duplicate teams :(**

**_Quirks/Habits_: Any weird stuff that they do?**

**_Likes_:**

**_Dislikes_:**

**_Strengths_: what they're good at.**

**_Flaws_: Number of flaws must be balanced with the strengths you give your character.**

**_Anything else_: I think I got everything though. You must be wiped out xD**

**_Battle Scene_: Optional. Include a one on one battle between them and a tough trainer.**

_Good job, you got through my OC form! Congratulations! *gives cookie* You must send it by PM, however. I won't even glance __at the OCs sent by review. Sounds harsh, but those are the rules~_


	2. An Awkward Flight

The Lilycove airport was booming. Lauren ended up being the last one in a long line, and had just about fallen asleep when she was finally asked by the flight attendant to show her invitation. She pulled the little black card out of the pocket of her loose black plants and flashed it. The lady smiled and let her through.

To say that Lauren was impressed with the plane provided for the tournament would have been an overstatement. It could hold about seventy to one-hundred people, if memory served her correctly, and was quite roomy for the amount of seats. But deluxe or not, once you've seen one plane, you've seen them all. Sure, these had the typical tv screens on the back of each chair where you could watch videos, listen to music, or play games, and even had a restaurant on the second floor, but everything was going to be unreasonably expensive. The restless trainer navigated her way through the line, shoving her way through only when she deemed absolutely necessary.

Not too long after, she came to the back of the plane where her seat was, and sat down next to a blue-haired girl. Not thinking anything of it, she sat down-

And something screamed.

Several seconds after, Lauren was hit with a sudden jolt of electricity. It was the longest five seconds she had ever experienced in her life. Finally, somehow snapping herself out of her stupidity, she bolted up and looked down at her seat to find a disgruntled pichu laying down, looking defeated. The girl sitting beside her shot her an icy glare, quickly snatching up the pichu and cradling him in her arms.

"Sorry about that," Lauren nonchalantly said before sitting down and pretending nothing happened. _Great first impression there_, she thought.

The girl, unimpressed, scoffed. "You have the best observational skills I have ever seen." Was she mocking her?

Lauren had to bite her tongue to keep herself from responding. She turned her head the other way, trying not to react any further, but of course, that wasn't going to happen. "Besides, pokémon aren't even allowed out of their pokéballs here. Airplane laws," She bitched, a proud smirk plastered on her face.

Unsurprisingly, the comment was ignored. Lauren decided she didn't like this girl. The plane hadn't even taken off and she gets shocked by a pokémon that shouldn't even be out! And the girl even got the window seat, to boot! The pichu on her lap gave her a threatening (as close as it could get to being threatening, anyway; as adorable as the creature was, it was pretty impossible) glare before curling up into a little ball and falling asleep.

_"Welcome to the Finis Tournament Flight. We will be arriving in Orre in precisely five hours. Weather is predicted as being calm throughout the flight with absolutely no problems along the way. Please refrain from smoking and buckle up. Be sure to keep your pokémon in their pokéballs." _

The girl with the pichu looked decidedly uncomfortable throughout the entire speech. She removed her white jacket and inconspicuously put it over the sleeping pokémon. She looked over at a smirking Lauren. _Checkmate._

"I'm really sorry about acting so coldly towards you. Please don't rat me out! Static will hate me for days if I put him in his ball!" she said with a pleading expression. Lauren, delighted at how this girl was at her mercy, smirked.

"I'll think about it..."

The girl bit her lip. It was going to be an interesting flight, to say the least.

* * *

An hour and a half into the flight, like many other passengers, Lauren somehow managed to develop restless leg syndrome. Seeing that the pichu girl was fast asleep and that she was safe from her awkward glances, she leapt to her feet and skipped down the aisle. She took the time to notice that almost _all _of the seats were unoccupied, save for a couple of lazy folk who decided to sleep for the remaining two-and-a-half hours. At last, she reached the lanky-looking stairs, and ran up.

The second floor was more hospitable-looking than the first floor. While the first floor had rows of itchy cloth seats organized into two seats per row (one window and one aisle), the second floor had a fancy tile floor with several uncomfortable mushroom-looking chairs around various mushroom-looking tables, which were all taken. _Naturally_. A middle-aged woman with an unnerving amount of make-up tended to various customers all stationed at a bar. Waiters were frantically carrying around dishes to various folk, trying to keep track of just how long each person waited.

There was a single table left, albeit with a redhead young man in a long coat already sitting there. Given her reserved nature, Lauren would normally dash back down to the (decidedly better) first floor where it was nice and quiet, but hey, she hadn't eaten for at least five hours. Without a second thought, she dashed over to the table and plopped herself on the vacant mushroom-chair.

The trainer didn't even look up.

Feeling awkward, Lauren took a deep breath, and started. "Hello... so you're competing in this strange tournament..." Her voice squeaked at the end. The young man nodded one, two, three times. His expression was neutral. Yeah, maybe she should have just stayed downstairs...

"Sowhereareyoufrom." Damn. That was awkwardly fast. The young man, amused, looked over at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Celadon" was all he said before pulling a piece of wood and a small bladed object. He turned back to his side and began chiseling away at the wood, not even glancing in her direction.

She felt too awkward to get up and leave and ended up sitting there until the young man decided to leave himself after a long while passed, not even getting a chance to eat.

* * *

"_Attention, passengers. We will be landing in precisely ten minutes. Please return to your seats and prepare to disembark."_

Lauren yawned, stretching out her arms and slamming her fist into the face of the girl next to her. The girl jumped away and quickly felt around her face, fully expecting blood. Thankfully for her, Lauren was pathetic enough that it barely left a bruise, and all the other girl could do was stare at her in disbelief.

"Sorry..." Lauren muttered, too embarassed to react any further. The victim shook her head.

"You seem to be saying that a lot lately. You're funny. What's your name?" she asked, holding out a nicely tanned hand.

"Lauren Fithars." She took her hand with her pale one.

"Nice to meet you. Eleanor Morris, trainer extraordinare. Though... maybe not. There's a bunch of people who have been training a lot longer than we have..."

Lauren couldn't help but question how experienced the girl was. After all, she had a pichu. A freaking pichu. Sure, she shouldn't judge a pokémon by its cover, but the shock from before really didn't hurt much.

"_Attention passengers. We are now disembarking." _

Eleanor took her coat off the pichu and threw it over her waist. The poor thing looked defeated, covered in sweat and feelings of harassment. "Sorry Static, but you have to hide in my coat until we get off..." she said sadly, looking down at the creature. It didn't protest at all and jumped (albeit reluctantly) into the back of her coat.

"Anyway. I look forward to battling you, Lauren. I'd like to see just how interesting you are on the battlefield." She flashed her a thumbs up. Lauren awkwardly did the same, with bitter thoughts in her head.

_Well, it's too late to turn back now..._

* * *

_Hell yeah! First chapter over! That one was a lotta fun to write._

_Poor Lauren. Her awkwardness is leading her into trouble left and right. We'll hope it gets better for her. _

**_Credits:_**

**_Red-haired quiet guy - Magmoor_**

**_Eleanor Morris - DeadlyThunder195_**


	3. Sandstream

The Key Airstrip was relatively new, and as the only airstrip in Orre, it was buzzing with acitivity. Everyone was looking down at their pamphlets, so many were pushing and shoving their way out of the plane, with a lot of "excuse you"s and not a lot of "sorry"s. They bustled down the stairs to the metal ground, and looked around at the new sights. It appeared to be in a mountain cavity with various long strips of metal that served as runways. A small building sat near the exit, as a front desk of sorts.

Lauren looked down at her pamphlet, admiring the thought they put into decorating the silver-rimmed text. Apparently the first matches took place tomorrow evening in a town call Phenac. A picture of the city was printed below the text, featuring an oasis-looking place with tiled ground and canals with fresh water. It looked like paradise, but it could have been exaggerated. Nevertheless, Lauren found herself grinning ear to ear at the thought of getting a chance to go there so soon.

The crowd of trainers shuffled out of the airport, all chattering excitedly about their first battle.

...Only to be greeted by a foreboding desert. With sandstorms.

Some vacation this turned out to be. It would take hours to cross the desert, even with a pokémon that could stand it. Sure, Phenac City looked like paradise in the pamphlets, but sandstorms made it sound like dystopia. Many groans were heard, coupled with the rumaging through bags to pull out goggles. Some resourceful trainers brought out pokémon that they could ride, all of them rock, ground, or steel types. Not too long after, they were all off.

That, is, all except Lauren, Eleanor, her pichu, and an unknown asian girl.

"Damn. How am I supposed to make it in time for the tournament now?" the stranger said, crossing her arms defiantly. Eleanor sighed herself, eyeing Static and her own pokéballs wryly. Lauren took that moment to squint at the stranger's trainer card, depicting her name in black bold letters. Chyna Zevvy.

"Don't ask me. This is a nasty sandstorm, and I don't have _any _pokémon that can take me across safely. I mean, actually, Blaze might be able too, but I want him to rest before-"

"Blaze?" Lauren inquired.

"My charizard..." Eleanor responded rather quietly as her fingers traced over her frontmost pokéball. Chyna raised an eyebrow.

"Original name for a fire-type," she simply stated, walking forward. Eleanor piped up.

"Hey! You aren't seriously considering walking who-knows-how-many-miles without a decent pokémon to ride, are you?" Eleanor shouted after her. The girl stopped for a few seconds.

"Yeah! I'll have you know that I do have a rock-type perfect for riding!" she yelled back. Lauren and Eleanor glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"Then why don't you let it out?" Eleanor said with a huge grin. The stranger tightened her goggles, trekking on.

"...I don't want you to see him. I want my pokémon to remain secret in case, uh, I have to battle you in the tournament!" Upon hearing this, Eleanor let out a "yeah right" before shrugging and running up to her, Static in her coat and Lauren following closely behind.

"Oh well, we're only walking in one of the most dangerous deserts in the world. No big deal." Eleanor stated. Chyna shrugged.

"Well, how bad could it be?"

* * *

_**6 hours later..**_

"I've had it with these Arceus-damned sandstorms in this Arceus-damned desert!"

Chyna was gasping frantically, running in short bursts of three yards before having to rest for a couple minutes. Lauren and Eleanor looked on forward at the miles of sandy wastes, then back at their new companion an amazement. The girl hadn't even properly introduced herself, yet somehow seemed to be comfortable stating her opinions in the most _straightforward _way possible, others' opinions of her be damned.

"I mean, it just keeps going on, and on, and on, and - you know what, we're taking a break." Chyna finally plopped down, utterly defeated. She pulled out a half-empty water container and downed the rest in seemingly one gulp.

"Exhibit A," Eleanor stated smartly, pointing to Chyna, "The fate of those who pride themselves in their 'self-confidence'." Chyna shot her a dirty look, but protested no further. Lauren pulled out a black pokénav, and fiddled around with it for a few seconds before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Looks like we have about twenty or so miles. At the pace we're going, that's about..." Lauren mumbled the rest of of the sentence under her breath. "...yeah. We can't exactly afford a break; do you know how dangerously cold deserts get at night? Even if we could leave a fire-type out, we'd still have to deal with an injured pokémon in the morning with the sandstorms and all...and sand in our sleeping bags to boot. Yeesh."

Chyna scoffed in protest, but nevertheless got up and trekked onward. Before stopping.

"What now?" Eleanor asked, arms crossed. Static peeked out from her coat but jumped back in after getting buffeted by the harsh sandstorm. Chyna merely pointed in the distance, at an old outpost. Score!

The three girls rushed ahead, not even caring how exhausted they were anymore. Nearly tripping in the thick sand, they finally came to what they thought was an outpost, to find several mere yards of neatly-arranged tiles. An tall man kneeled on top of them, observing them like a biologist would a new species. But that wasn't what interested the three, oh no. Beside him, not even a yard away, stood a jeep.

"Arceus be praised!" Without any prompt, Chyna ran over to the car, practically slamming herself into it. This caused the thing to loudly emit several obnoxious beeps. The man, hearing the commotion, looked up at Chyna before running after her.

"What the - what are you doing to..." He stopped mid-sentence, seeing the sweat and the raw scratches on the three. Lauren blinked at him in amazement. Squeaky Voice Guy. She started tearing up. Never had she ever been so excited to see a tall prepubescent-sounding creeper in her life. She almost wanted to hug him!

...Well, almost, anyway.

"Okay, yeah, then. You're those trainers who I invited here...? How'd you get way out here? You know what, scratch that, how'd you get way out here _without_ pokémon to ride on?"

Lauren was the first to respond. "Well, we got off the plane six hours ago and there was no transportation to the next town, so-"

His mouth opened so wide at that moment, eyes bulged, and eyebrows raised.

"Um, you do realize they were offering free train rides to Phenac, right?"

The three just stared dumbly.

* * *

_**4 hours later...**_

As it turned out, Squeaky Voice guy, _Arceus bless him,_ took the three into his jeep as an apology for not putting the "Free Train Ride" note in big, red letters. Everyone had just finished dressing their wound, and Lauren and Chyna somehow ended up in an intense argument. How Eleanor and her pichu could sleep through it, no one would ever know.

"This is your fault, Chyna." Lauren looked at her opponent straight in the eye, her left eye twitching. "If you hadn't rushed ahead into the desert, we wouldn't have ended up like this."

"Hey, you two didn't have to run after me! In fact, I might have _preferred _it if you didn't! Wait, how do you even know my name?"

"Irrelevent." Lauren prompted her to continue.

Anyway, all you two did was slow me down, especially you! A break every ten minutes? _Seriously?_" At the end of her rant, Chyna let out an exasperated sigh.

"It was the harsh desert weather! I was only looking out for your well-being, especially since-"

"My well-being. _My well being_? That's the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard. In fact-"

At that moment, Squeaky Voice Guy decided that it was a good time to literally slam on the breaks. Both Lauren and Chyna crashed forward, and ended up nearly crushing their faces against the headboard.

"Welp," Squeaky Voice Guy said, stoically as ever, "That worked out quite nicely."

Naturally, several seconds later, the girls stopped arguing with each other in favor of yelling at him.

* * *

_**2 hours later...**_

Phenac City was as beautiful as the pamphlets promised, as it turned out. Tall white walls embraced the city and kept out the desert's hazards - notably, the sandstorm. Streams of crystaline water danced through the canals and ended in small waterfalls that were recycled into the town's main spring. The buildings were white and concrete, and a good size, at that. Each of them was situated next to one or two palm trees planted in the only bits of sand allowed in the otherwise yellow - tiled city.

As it turned out, each of the competitor got their own room in a rather sizeable hotel, which included a television set, bathroom, bed, refridgerator, and even a small stove and fireplace. Having finished her shower and, Lauren put on her new clothes, changed her bandages, and turned on the tv to Phenac City's only channel to find that the tournament had already started without her.

"Crap. Should really sign in." With that, she rushed off, not even bothering to turn off the tv.

Phenac Stadium was definitely something to write home about. It took place in a large, white dome with water spouting from it, and the inside was decidedly more impressive. The rows could hold up to one thousand people, but only half of them were occupied (it was only the first match, after all). She walked up to a professionally dressed lady in a small enclosure who had her sign her name. Phew. Now that that was out of the way...

"Now, Dreamer, Hyper Beam!"

A blast of orange light shot out from a random direction, narrowly missing Lauren. _Shit, shit shit shit shit shit!_ Well, that's I get for loitering in the stadium, she thought, quickly dashing in the front stands to observe the battle. She squinted, and managed to see the combatants. One was a bronze-haired girl about her age wearing a white hat and white sweater. A black belt sat atop her light blue skinny jeans. She also donned a pink messanger bag.

She appeared to be controlling a gallade. "Dreamer." Huh. Interesting nickname.

Her opponent looked decidedly less skilled. He was obviously a newer trainer, from the way he conducted himself. He was a pale-skinned dirty blonde wearing various combinations of grays and blacks. A silver eevee stood in front of him.

"Good job, Eevee! Now, quickly, use Attract!" The eevee jumped forward, somehow landing on the gallade. All the gallade could do was stare as the eevee shot a trio of red hearts at him. The female trainer's fists clenched.

"Shake it off, Dreamer! Then use Close Combat!" The gallade hesitated before it started shaking his head back and forth really quickly, but the eevee merely giggled in reponse. However, it seemed to be losing its grip...

"Eevee, don't let it shake you loose! Sand Attack!"

With that, eevee flung its hind legs at the gallades face, kicking up pebbles of sand from what seemed to be hammerspace, and gracefully jumped off.

"This is ridiculous... Dreamer, use Psychic to hold that thing in place, then use Close Combat!" Gallade nodded, and his eyes started glowing blue. Suddenly, the eevee was swept into mid-air. Her little feet moved back and forth in a vain attempt to stop herself from floating away. With astounding speed, Dreamer the Gallade dashed up to the little eevee, but stopped, a faint blush evident on his otherwise ivory cheeks. The female trainer facepalmed.

"Dreamer, just, return." She rumaged through her bag and pulled out a great ball, and threw it.

However, when Dreamer was returned to his pokéball, it caused the eevee to crash land, instantly fainting it. The girl shrugged, smiling at how it turned out.

The boy pulled out a pokéball and called back his eevee, looking frustrated. The referee raised his right flag.

"And so, Evelyn Hughes from Kanto has defeated Yorick Sanders from Hoenn! "

The girl, Evelyn, walked across the stadium to collect a commemoration pendant, while the boy merely stood there slumped. Then, the strangest thing happened.

A blaring alarm sounded, and flashing lights were everywhere. A crowd of men dashed into the stadium, armed with various guns of all shapes and sizes. A single buff man stepped forward with a mega-phone.

"Evelyn Hughes. You're under arrest for the mass murder of two dozen pokémon."

* * *

_Oooh, cliff hanger! Who is this Evelyn Hughes, and what has she done to attract the attention of the police? Has she really murdered all of those pokémon? Tune in next chapter!_

_Also, a note: just because your character loses a battle, doesn't mean they're kicked out of the fic. It just means that they won't be in the tournament anymore. Heck, some of them may even play important roles later on!_

**_Credits:_**

**_Eleanor Morris - DeadlyThunder195_**

**_Chyna Zevvy - MewBladeXxX_**

**_Evelyne Hughes - Gentle Blossom_**

**_Yorick Sanders - Dodgerjoey_**


	4. Suspicious People

A blaring alarm sounded, and flashing lights were everywhere. A crowd of men in blue dashed into the stadium, armed with various guns of all shapes and sizes. A single buff man stepped forward with a mega-phone.

"Evelyn Hughes. You're under arrest for the mass murder of two dozen pokémon."

The girl stammered in disbelief, not even willing her own mouth to open. All her effort would reap would be incoherent syllables. The men surrounded her, forcing her hands behind her back and locking her handcuffs with a loud snap.

"I didn't do anything! I swear I-" The officers seemingly disregarded her statements.

"As per Miranda's Law, you have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you." The crying girl was forcefully led out of the stadium, the hundreds of competitors watching in disbelief. Several of the competitors followed out of curiosity, only to be pushed back by a dozen police officers. Depite that, a certain curious trouble-maker managed to force their way through the crowd. Lauren. She definitely knew there was something weird going on, and she was going to be the one to find out, the legal consequences be damned.

She quietly pulled a moon ball and released a tiny, purple demon-like pokémon with white jewels on various places of its body..

"Nights," she whispered, leaning down to look at the sableye. "I need you to use Shadow Sneak to carry us into the back of the van. Be silent, and be quick." The tiny demon nodded, and jumped onto Lauren's shoulder before he was knocked off by what looked like a floating cicada shell. He fell to the concrete floor, groaned, and jumped to his feet, vocalizing numerous growls to his attacker. The shedinja floated backwards until he floated at his trainer's side. The trainer with the dark red hair, long navy blue coat, hand-made wooden necklace... Red-haired Quiet Guy. He grunted through his frown, and locked his dark green eyes with Lauren's spectacled olive green ones.

"So," he started coldly, his neutral expression not leaving, "You must be a criminally curious type, huh?" The lifeless bug shell merely stood there, staring at Lauren as coldly as his trainer. Red-haired Quiet Guy sighed, muttering something under his breath. About her, Lauren deduced.

"You could say I'm looking out for you. You seem a bit naive to do the task properly..." His voice trailed off. Lauren grunted at his comment.

"I'm not naive."

He raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Stupid. Only a fool would let her curiosity get to her like that."

Lauren bit her lip and sighed, exasperated. "What the hell do you think you are? You don't even know my name, yet you're so rude to me? Just who the hell are you?"

He smirked at her comment, and stretched his arms. "Quite the little hypocrite, aren't you? Well, if it helps you control your temper, my name is Orion Quicksilver. You don't have to remember it if you don't want to. I'm not really expecting you to, anyway."

Orion. Huh. He sure was a lot snappier than he was on the plane. _People sure are odd_, Lauren thought. He turned away, not bothering to say goodbye, as anyone would expect of someone like him. Yet, he didn't leave.

"Something was odd about the way that girl was just suddenly arrested," Orion said without turning around. "Her bond with her pokémon was strong. I'm hard-pressed to believe she would up and decide to kill a bunch of pokémon just for kicks..." The conversation had gotten so deep that Lauren just then realized that he held a new-looking carving: a creature that looked like a winged pixie with a v for ears. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at her.

"Maybe you aren't so foolish after all. That is... if you weren't just chasing after 'em just for kicks. Heh."

He turned to his right. The police cars had already driven away, their black forms mere silhouttes in the distance.

"Still, I think you should just hang back for a little while. It's still too early to tell." With that, he finally began walking away, his creepy bug-type following close behind. Lauren was too weirded out to move until the man was out of her sight.

* * *

Lauren had a lot to think about. She had tried letting her pokémon out of her pokéballs, but only Zephyr had decided to stay out for the rest of the night. Lauren lay on his cottony form, sprawled on the queen-sized bed the hotel provided her with. Zephyr's melodic snore harmonized with the clicking of the clock to create a sort of lullaby. Nevertheless, Lauren stayed awake, recounting the day's events over and over again. What made the police target Evelyn? Like Orion, Lauren was hard-pressed to agree that she really did kill the pokémon out of cold blood. Didn't she have a gallade? That pokémon would never listen to a trainer who was evil. Only a trainer that loved their pokémon could raise a pokémon like gallade.

Just what was going on?

Lauren pushed herself out of bed. She groggily stumbled her way across the room, smiled at the sleeping Zephyr, and turned off the lights. She had just finished removing the thin white pokéball belt with blue rhinestones from around her waist and gently put it on the desk before she heard loud banging from the window. Horrified, she crept over, peaked through the curtains and-

Lauren fell backwards. Repeated squawking sounds were heard, and not too long after, a crash and a young girl squealing. Lauren rubbed her eyes and reached for her glasses. She opened up the window, and gasped in surprise at what she saw, for Eleanor sat at the bottom of the building, treating the injured flying-type with a potion. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was Eleanor's unfezant who made the squawking sounds.

"Eleanor?" Lauren yelled incredulously. The cobalt-haired trainer waved energetically with a smile.

"Lauren! The weirdest thing happened-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence. "Can I come up there?" Before Lauren had a chance to reply, Eleanor jumped onto her unfezant, who, despite earlier klutziness, flew her up to Lauren's window with ease.

"Eleanor! What are you doing here this late at night?" Lauren said, helping the girl and large bird through the rather tiny window. Eleanor hopped onto the floor with grace, but her pokémon fell to the ground with a comical thud. She smiled, shook her head, and returned the unfezant to her pokéball at the bird without even a subtle hint of worry on her face.

Lauren's altaria had woken up from the commotion, cooing and chirping in protest. He picked up his large form and flew over to Lauren't pokéball belt. Annoyed and exhausted, he opened up his pokéball and put himself inside.

"Sorry about Wings. Anyway..." Why she didn't apologize for barging in so late was a mystery for the ages.

"Lauren, there's these weird people outside the hotel! I got up 'cause I heard some talking outside the hotel, I look down, and... well, you get the picture. I didn't think it was a good idea to chase 'em off myself, so... I got you."

Lauren continued rubbing her eyes. "Eleanor... what... we barely know each other. Why don't you-"

"Because you're the only person I know in this hotel, and they're wayyy too loud. I don't want them to wake up Static! Oh, and please, call me Ellie. Can you help me? Pleeeeeease?"

There was no way in hell Lauren would help her. It was rude enough that she wakes her up (that was a lie to herself; Lauren hadn't slept all night) and flies in uninvited, but this girl actually had the balls to ask her to chase possibly innocent strangers off? Lauren rolled her eyes and shook her head. However, in spite of herself, Lauren found her mouth moving automatically:

"Okay... lemme go get my pokéballs and get dressed."

Not even five minutes later, the two were at the entrance to the hotel, hiding behind a fat palm tree. The suspicious strangers were still there, just standing in the dark outside the hotel. Their voices were in hushed whispers. Lauren was shivering, and not just because of the cold desert night.

"(Okay, Eleanor -er, Ellie. This is just too freaking creepy. I don't think I can take this!)" Lauren whispered. She had put on her 'pleading' face, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips tightly pressed together. Eleanor rolled her eyes at this, shaking her head.

"(Shut up! I'm trying to listen in on them!)"

Lauren made a sound of protest, but listened to her. Weren't they going to stop these people? She didn't recall Eleanor saying that she wants to eavesdrop on them. Normally Lauren would be more than up for a little listening in, but it was late and she wanted to sleep. And in Lauren's mind, there was _nothing _better than sleep. Still, these people were among the scariest she'd ever seen. She didn't like to be judgemental, but the fact that they appeared in front of the hotel under the full moon wasn't helping their case much.

At that moment, one of the weirdoes let out a loud obnoxious laugh, making Lauren jump. Eleanor, as per 'instinct,' slapped her hand in front of Lauren's mouth, which she threw off in annoyance.

"And after that, the world'll be purified again. That is, if nobody suspects a thing..."

"But hey! That'll be easy! Most people are just sheep, anyway. If we can get someone to..."

"Huh? What is it?"

One of the men glanced around. Lauren and Eleanor stood low, trying to keep their breaths as quiet as possible.

"Nothing. Just thought I heard something, but it's nothing. What do you say we get back to our hotel rooms? It's getting late, and we've worked hard for today's success."

All the men agreed, and headed back into the hotel, one by one. Lauren let out an audible sigh of relief. Eleanor looked back at her, smiling.

"Thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate it. So... see you tomorrow?" Lauren nodded, still in a state of surprise at what she saw. And just like that, Eleanor was gone. The event was over.

Lauren looked up at the night sky for several seconds in deep thought before heading back in.

Last night's events felt so surreal to Lauren. Eleanor's unfezant tapping on her window, sneaking out of the hotel, listening to the odd strangers...

She wondered if it truly did happen; it was all so sudden. Innocent girls like Evelyn don't just get arrested out of the blue. And just what were those men talking about? The world being purified once again? Getting someone to do something? A success? If she didn't know any better, it would sound like a plot to dominate the world or something out of a TV show. It all made her head hurt. Lauren was hardly ever honest with herself, but she was sure of one thing: she was scared.

In any case, something weird was definitely going on. She was dressed and ready before she knew it, and crept downstairs as if hiding from someone. Was she... unconciously practicing stealth? Preparing for something?

She tossed those thoughts aside and upon passing a mirror, realized that she hadn't brushed her hair. It sticked up all over as if reaching out for something, and she had very noticeable split ends. Not that she cared. She had more important things to worry about. Like evil people and breakfast, for instance.

The hotel's breakfast café was very full at that hour, as 8 o'clock was a popular time for trainers to get going; after all, it was the average Pokémon Center's only breakfast time. She looked around the café, decorated her plate with several breakfast foods and sat down at the only empty table she could find. Eleanor had already got going, she surmised. Either that or she was sleeping in. Lauren couldn't wrap her finger around that girl.

She looked around the café for the odd trio of strangers that she and Eleanor had spied on last night, but they were nowhere to be found. _Figures_, she thought, _Suspicious people never want to be around others..._

She finished up her breakfast and lazily lounged in the hotel's public hot tubs before finally heading to the stadium to watch today's matches...

* * *

The announcer's voice was as loud and obnoxious as ever. There were two new competitors, a boy and a girl. The boy was a dark brown-haired young-looking trainer wearing mostly green and blue. The girl looked slightly older, countered by the fact that she was pretty short. Her wardrobe consisted of a violet shirt, black pants, and grey hoodie.

"The Finis Tournament's second match will be a three-on-three battle between Dyson McGolen and Nina Mares! Now, Trainers, send out your pokémon!"

"Go, Ninetales!" the boy yelled, throwing a great ball from his belt. It popped open, revealing an ivory fox with nine tails. It cried, its front legs in the air in an effort to look intimidating.

"Kurage, I need you!" The girl threw a lure ball, which released a tentacruel. The creature barely reacted at all, merely blinking in realization that it had been called out.

"Kurage, open with Rain Dance!"

The tentacruel began waving its front tentacles around, and all of a sudden, it started raining. Indoors. Some members of the audience shrieked, pulling out their umbrellas.

"Shit..." the boy muttered under his breath. "Ninetales, use Extrasensory!"

The fox obliged, his eyes glowing white. All of a sudden, Tentacruel was hurled into the air, and was spun around several times before it fell to the ground. And that wasn't the end of it. Tentacruel, stunned, was unable to retaliate when Nina ordered him to use a move, and Ninetales, once again, used Extrasensory, but used this one to hold the jellyfish in place.

"Now, Ninetales! Finish it off with Iron Tail!"

All nine of the kitsune's tails glowed silver, and it dashed for its target. One second, and whack! It hit all nine of its tails at Tentacruel at once, sending the poor water/poison type flying into the ring of water surrounding the stadium. And, Lady Luck on Dyson's side, the rain concluded with a refreshing drizzle that faded away not too long after.

"And Tentacruel goes down almost immediately! Wow! That leaves Nina with just two more pokémon! Which one will she choose next?"

Nina returned tentacruel and eyed the other five pokéballs attached to her belt. She picked up a heavy ball, and paused. Then, deciding against whatever other judgement she had, she threw it, revealing a steelix.

"Gyra, Earthquake and Crunch! Go!"

The steelix was on it immediately. She slammed her huge body into the stadium, creating cracks almost as big as her. As all trainers were taught to do, Dyson jumped into the emergency stand made for the competitors. In spite of this, Ninetales gracefully avoided all of the fissures that opened up, until Steelix lunged itself at him.

But he got cocky. Just as Steelix was about to connect with her attack, Ninetales did a triple back flip - and landed in one of the fissures. He instantly fainted. Dyson threw his great ball, returning the great fox.

"Good work, Ninetales..." he muttered, before throwing a pokéball. It was a swampert. Unfortunately, the swampert just so happened to land in one of the fissures, and grunted in pain. Dyson smirked.

"Swampert, Avalanche!"

And immediately, the mud fish pokémon jumped back up, releasing a wave of snow out of what appeared to be nowhere. The attack covered almost the entire battlefield, and appeared to have connected with Steelix. Damien cheered.

...Before he noticed a large hole in the ground. The was an audible gasp throughout the stadium.

"Good job, Gyra! Dig, and when you come up, use Crunch, just like we practiced!"

Damien bit his lip. "Swampert, Surf!"

A wave of water overtook the stadium, washing the snow away and fiooding the entire field almost completely. The battling trainers' pants were soaked. However, the water quickly drained into the giant hole that the steelix made.

"Gyra...!" To say that Nina was not prepared for this would have been an understatement. Her steelix, on the other hand, was. Before the water completely filled the hole, she emerged right behind Swampert and picked him up with her giant mouth. She clamped down on him hard. Dyson repeatedly shouted commands, but the swampert couldn't react at all: he had fainted.

Nina was so caught up in her steelix's success that she failed to notice just how much damage she had taken. Bruised, battered, and soaked, the steelix collapsed, Swampert still in her mouth.

Dyson threw his pokéball at the steelix's head and Swampert was swallowed into the ball, which Dyson gracefully caught in his hand. "That... was close..." he muttered, unhooking the ball containing his third and final pokémon.

"Both trainers have only one pokémon left!" The announcer yells, "Will this round be as dangerous as the last? Who will come out victorious?"

"Luxray!" Dyson yelled, throwing his pokéball a good distance from the (now flooded) fissures.

"Go, Lily!" Nina threw her pokéball at roughly the same time as Dyson. Hers released a roserade.

The pokémon began the battle with their most physical moves: Poison Jab and Ice Fang respectively. Both connected at the same time, with Roserade's blue flower's poison spikes jammed in Luxray's face and Luxray's subzero fangs digging into the grass-type's arm.

The battle went downhill from there. Dyson commanded Luxray to bite down harder and send thundershocks to add insult to injury, while Nina asked Roserade to retract her poison spikes and drain Luxray instead.

At the moment it looked like Nina was going to win, Dyson quickly commanded Luxray to use Attract, stunning his opponent. Nina held her breath, but didn't order roserade to retreat.

One more Ice Fang, and Dyson was the winner of the match.

"And after a brutal match, Dyson comes out on top! Congratulations!"

* * *

_Sorry for the sudden ending, but I was started having severe writer's block towards the end there. Anyway, yay! Finished my longest chapter yet! I'm so awesome! _

_Anyway, I have a massive five-day weekend ahead of me, so I'll try to update as much as I can. Keep watching! The plot is only just starting!_

_**Credits:**_

_**Evelyn Hughes - Gentle Blossom**_

_**Orion Quicksilver - Magmoor**_

_**Eleanor Morris - DeadlyThunder195**_

_**Dyson McGolen - Grim Reaper Kid**_

_**Nina Maes - kitsunelover300**_


	5. Novus

Strong desert winds blew against the rusted steel of the Outskirt Stand's derailed caboose. Wheels stood locked in the sand, locked in time; not even a squeak was allowed out of them. Orion stoically approached the train, not even bothering to block his face from the sandstorm. The board leading into the caboose cracked under his feet, yet stubbornly refused to break.

The inside of the caboose seemed more cramped looking than the outside. A muscle man in a green bandanna sat behind a bar, with several backless seats on the opposite side. All was quiet except for the soft voices coming from the news station on the TV. Orion picked a random seat and flagged down the bartender and modestly ordered an ice water. He stared intently at the screen. The two anchormen appeared to be having a conversation as opposed to running a news show. Orion couldn't decide if they didn't care about ratings or that they simply were that bad at their jobs. Or maybe it was just how they ran it in Orre. Any intelligent man like Orion knew that it would be foolish to judge mere cultural differences.

"_Yes, that's right. The officers just rushed in, and grabbed the girl from her place in the stadium. The 17-year-old girl, Evelyn Hughes, was ripped straight from her place in the stadium after just having won a battle. Yes! I was there! A bunch of men, twenty of them, rushed in and just took her away. Actually-" _ The woman on TV looked down at a paper on the desk. "_Wow! She was found guilty! Secc, what do you know about this? I just find it so unbelievable!"_

_The young man on TV nodded his head, an interested smile evident on his face. "Yes, Meg. Investigators have found the weapon used to kill the pokémon -a Saiga-12 shotgun. Her fingerprints were found on the handle, but it was pretty subtle. It took the forensics a while, but she's finally been put away."_

_"Thank you, Secc. Wow... the world's sure become a dark place. This is Meg, signing off."_

Orion let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Even still, he didn't believe it, even after hearing it on the news. He looked down at his water and sipped from it.

Just then, three peculiar strangers walked in. The first one was a bald older man. He was massively large, with a ripped black t-shirt with a flame and ripped jeans. He appeared to be carrying a suspicious red tank on his back. The second looked like he just came out of a fancy restaurant. His black hair was greased back. His navy blue suit and white tie complimented his piercing blue eyes. His pokets were deep and appeared to have something round in them. The last one looked the youngest out of the three. His blonde hair was spiked, and wore a black overcoat with yellow buttons over dark jeans. Orion squinted. Was the overcoat... rubber?

The three strangers scurried over to one of the middle seats, not sparing Orion even a single glance. Orion waited until the bartender served the trio their drinks, then snuck over to one of the nearer seats to listen in.

"Drisle, man, if you don't stop being such a stick-in-the-ass we'll never get the team to agree to release the girlie," the large one said. His voice was booming. Orion didn't even have to put an effort in to listen to him.

The man in the navy blue suit sighed. "Flair, you know the reason she's in jail is because we didn't have any volunteers in Novus. Not that I can blame them. Who knows how long the project could take." Drisle took a sip of what looked like a tea. The young man with the spiky blonde hair was impatiently tapping his foot. Drisle raised a thin eyebrow. "Volson? You look like you have something to say. Speak up, if you please."

The spiky-haired young guy smirked. "Nah, I'm just excited. I mean, we've been working on this thing for, what? Five years now? We're so close!" Volson clenched his fists in excitement. "I mean, just think, guys! Once we finish Project Initium, all hell will break loose! Well, not really. More like the opposite, really."

He slammed his palm on the table. "People's eyes will be opened. They will demand that we keep doing what we're doing. Pretty soon, the chick, what's-her-face, will be released, and under the civilian's requests! It's the _perfect _form of keeping track of our little manipulation scheme! Hahahaha!"

Drisle rolled his eyes, crossing his legs. "Volson. Quit making yourself seem like you're evil or something. We're doing the right thing. Yes, I'm sure you're excited, and I am too, but for God's sake, please put a lid on it! People will think we're up to no good!"

"Once Project Initium begins, we'll have rid the world of evil for good. It will be a much holier, safer place. Violence will be almost nonexistent..." Flair let out a content sigh. He pulled out a grey orb with a white center and placed it on the table.

"Here we are. Our very own trophy and crystal ball. Too bad it's so drained and useless now. Huh." Flair took it off the table and put it back in his pocket.

"We're not using that for a while, but just hold on to it tightly. We can't lose that thing." Drisle's voice took on a serious tone.

"Here, are you guys finished yet? We need to get back on the road if we want to get to Gateon Port on time." Volson put his cup back on the table and signed the bill, winking. "My treat, guys. Let's go." And with that, they were off, not paying a certain young man any mind, who had his dark green eyes fixated on the grey orb hanging loosely from Flair's pocket.

Orion's eyes narrowed.

* * *

"Good job, Nix, now, Flare Blitz!" Lauren shouted, her feet wide in a battle stance.

The blaziken ran at the Golduck with an incredible speed. She jumped, and in a mere milisecond, was engulfed in flames. Her opponent, a gardevoir, patiently stood his ground and awaited a command.

"Now, Emera, strike her with Hyper Beam!" The gardevoir's green eyes narrowed, and soon, the blaziken was blasted away with a massive beam of orange. Not long after, the blaziken crashed to the ground, fainted. Lauren recalled the creature with a "good job" and turned to her gardevoir.

"Good job, boy. I think you've perfected that technique. Now what do you say about battling yourself?" Just as Lauren was about to release her Ditto from its premier ball, she paused. A large venusaur came through a nearby entrance, with a familiar man by his side. Her eyes were immediately on Orion, who appeared to be holding a large, grey orb with a shiny white center.

"I think your battle with Xerox will have to wait... return." She returned the gardevoir to his ultra ball and clipped it back to her white belt. She carefully approached the man from the back, reached out her hand and-

"What do you think you're doing?" Crap. Lauren blushed at the possible implications and immediately pointed to the grey orb.

"That. What the hell is it."

Orion raised an eyebrow. He picked up the grey orb, and sighed with a smile. "I take it you won't leave me alone until I tell you?" Lauren happily nodded with a stupid grin.

"Alright. I'm not entirely sure, but it's an Eternal Orb," Orion calmly stated, holding it out for her to see it. Just as she reached to touch it, he snatched it away. "It seems broken now, but it can be used to summon Celebi."

"What! You plan on catching a legendary?" Lauren blurted out, her eyes open in shock. Orion recoiled, seeminly repulsed at the idea.

"What? No! That's illegal. Plus I'm pretty sure it's impossible. Anyway..." Orion's venusaur at his trainer, tilting his head in anticipation of what he was going to say. "Supposedly, if you put it in a Relic Stone, Celebi will appear and, according to Orre myth, do you a favor, however impossible it may be."

Lauren's eyebrows raised in amazement. "Wow, seriously? So if I can find one..."

"You know, there's only one Eternal Orb in the world, and supposedly, after Celebi grants you a favor, it will disappear and reappear in another location, usually one that's dangerous or hidden."

At that point, Orion's venusaur had decided to recline on his belly, his eyes closed. Lauren's jaw looked like it was going to fall off of her face. She raised a finger and poked at the orb.

"You... know a lot. But, why is it all cold and grey? I've read a few mythology books, and I recall seeing a picture of one. It looked... I dunno, green and alive-looking?" she asked, not really sure if it was a statement or question. She looked down to look at Orion. He shrugged.

"Hm. Good question. I really don't know. I'll look into it." He turned around to leave. "Come on, Grove," he said, nudging his venusaur. The creature groggily got to his feet, and stretched.

Lauren bit her lip. "Orion, wait." He didn't even stop for her. That was that, she had it. Lauren dashed past him, purposely running into him and snatching the orb from his hands.

"What the-? Do you mind giving that back?" Orion stated calmly, if not a bit irritated. Lauren laughed out loud, swinging it back and forth, taunting him.

"Of course not. But I seriously hate it when people ignore me, so... well, I took it."

Orion sighed, crossing his arms in exasperation. Lauren allowed a bemused smile to cross her face, and Grove was, once again, resting on his belly.

"Alright, I'll bite. What do you want?"

"Well, I was reading the travel guides, and there's this place called Relic Forest..."

"I know exactly what you're about to say. We're not going."

"What?" Lauren's bright smile slowly sank off her face.

"Look, I think it's a good idea that you let me hang onto that thing. You see, I actually stole it from a suspicious looking trio. They were talking about nonsense like ridding the world of evil, and manipulating civilians. They were talking about how important this thing was, and I'd rather hold onto it until everything cools down or, at least, I find out more about them."

Lauren bit her lip, nodding. "Welp, your argument sounds reasonable and everything, but I have some news for you: it is against mine, and I'm seriously curious about what will happen. I mean, evil gangs and conspiracies? Count me in."

Orion put his face to his palm. "Arceus, you're such a fool. What makes you think I would agree to something like this?"

Lauren put on an innocent grin. "I'm not expecting you too. In fact, I really don't care if you agree to it or not. Because you know what? I'm doing it anyway."

And with that, she was off with a dash, a flustered Orion and rather slow venusaur chasing after her.

* * *

The underground subway screeched to a halt. Lauren jumped from her seat, shoving through the crowd of people. She was the first out. Orion, in contrast, was the last. The two walked up the stairs, with Orion scrutinizing her pockets and backpack for a large spherical bulge and plotting the easiest way to pickpocket her.

"Listen, Orion. I _know _you're thinking. I wouldn't be foolish enough to hide it in my pockets or backpack only to have you snatch it away from me. I mean, come on. Surely you're curious as to what would happen if we-"

"We've already went over this. It's dangerous. It's stupid. And you're a fool."

Lauren rolled her eyes, and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiously similar to "stick-up-the-ass," and with his better judgment, Orion decided to ignore it.

At last, they arrived at the top of the stairs in a rather small Pokémon Center. The crowd had already left, leaving only Orion, Lauren, and the nurse. They exited the building to be greeted by fresh grass and water. The buildings were made out of mostly concrete, but there were one or two that were built into the rather large trees that surrounded the area. Agate village appeared to be built on a rather high hill, but the sand of the desert was nowhere to be seen. It was just trees, grass, a cold running lake, and the structures.

The temperature wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. It was heaven.

"I think I might like this place better than Phenac City," Lauren muttered, looking around before speeding down a hill. "Here. According to the travel guide, if we go through this tunnel, we should arrive in the forest..."

Orion silently nodded, and followed her down the hill. The two cautiously entered the cave and pressed forward.

It was considerably cooler in the cave than it was outside. As the two got deeper and deeper, there was less and less light. Soon, the only thing that hinted that they were concious and walking was the loud stream at their left and the strong smell of mold. Orion smirked to himself. Now was his shot. He felt around for Lauren's bag, only to be greeted by a punch to the stomach. He fell to his knees, and silently recoiled in pain.

"No need to be so harsh..." he muttered to Lauren.

"What?" Her voice was much further away than he thought. Much too far to punch him, that's for sure (unless she had elastic arms or something, but come on.) Instead, he was greeted by a musical male voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It must have been reflex."

Orion automatically recoiled. Just who was that?

"So sorry! It must be so creepy to find a third person suddenly travelling with you. But... I didn't want to be a nuisance, so... I did it quietly..." Lauren and Orion both could have sworn that, despite the darkness, they saw the stranger grin. Lauren shivered.

"No, it's fine, no big deal," Lauren stated. "It's just, you know, _effin'__ creepy._" She emphasized the last two words. _Amen to that, _Orion thought to himself.

"My, my. Such language! No need to be so harsh! I'm friendly. See? My name's Felix~" He sang the last sentence.

"Okay. Nice to meet you, Felix, but could you, you know, back off a bit until we get to the end of this cave? I don't want to be constantly feeling around only to-" Orion cut himself off. "...Well, you know. Anyway, let's go."

Not even five minutes later, and they were welcomed by the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Thank you Arceus!" Lauren said, dashing out of the confined place. "I never want to go there again!"

Orion shook his head. She was an odd girl, flipping her opinions left and right, deciding against her previous decisions in a heartbeat the moment something difficult comes up. And by difficult, he meant realistic misfortunes like getting lost in a cave or encountering terrorist when you decide to go on a foolish adventure like this. Why did he tag along again?

The two had completely forgotten about Felix, who happily skipped out of the cave. "Oh, joys~ Finally we're out of that confined place!"

Orion raised an eyebrow at the man's appearance. He was tall, sickly skinny, pale, and wore a purple coat over what appeared to be a black suit. Even odder, atop his slick black hair was a purple and black jester hat with little gold bells at the end of them, and a slasher smile. Orion couldn't explain it, but he felt a very strong desire to get away from the man as soon as possible.

"Let's go Lauren," Orion said, grabbing the girl by her white scarf and pulling her away.

"Ow! Orion! Let go! You're choking me! Augh!"

Orion looked back at Felix only once to see the man playfully smirking. He sped up running, Lauren grabbing her scarf from her neck the whole way.

* * *

"_Gasp... gasp..._ Orion... why were... you..." Lauren collapsed behind a large tree after being let go of. She looked up at Orion desperately with an expression that fitted a little kid who got a punishment they didn't think they deserved.

"Something wasn't right with that guy," he simply stated, his calm demeanor once again returning to him. "And to think he was silently following us in that pitch-black cave the whole time..." He shivered violently.

"Yeah, he was really creepy... but he's gone now, so let's keep going." Orion nodded, completely forgetting about wanting to snatch the Eternal Orb back.

After about an hour of fighting through sharp weeds and vines and passing the same trees over and over, they finally arrived at a small shrine. There was a tall, stone pillar on top of a grey concrete road about five yards long. Weeds sprouted up from the cracks of the road, and mold grew on the pillar. A soft green light emitted from the pillar It was unmistakeable. It was the Relic Stone.

Lauren and Orion slowly approached the thing, mesmerized by the etereal green light. Lauren reached under her blue beret hat and pulled out the Eternal Orb. _Ah, so that's where she was hiding it, _Orion thought, amused.

Just then, three large men ran into the area and tackled Lauren to the ground. Lauren struggled and fought, but to no avail. Flair had pried the Eternal Orb from her delicate hands with his large, muscular ones and jumped off.

"Arceusdamnit..." Lauren muttered, looking up at her assailant. Her eyes widened. They were the three that she and Eleanor had spied on! The resemblance was uncanny.

"Well, who would have thought the little thief would be so foolish to return the orb to the number one place one would expect it to be..." Drisle said dangerously, as Flair slipped the orb into his hands. Orion looked down at Lauren and gave her an insulting glare.

"Don't even say it..." Lauren muttered to him. Orion shrugged.

"We didn't count on having someone steal this thing, that's for sure..." Volson muttered, removing from his belt what looked like a giant gun. Upon seeing the gun, Lauren jumped to her feet.

"Suspicious people!" The three looked at the girl incredulously. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! You give back that thing that you stole... or we make you!" Lauren was shouting at them, pointing a finger in an attempt to appear intimidating.

"You had to go for the cheesy line..." Orion muttered. Lauren shot him a glare, but didn't otherwise complain. Her hand immediately went to her belt to grab a pokéball, but stopped.

Volson had shot her hand with an electric bullet.

She screamed. She cried. She fell to the ground. It hurt, oh, it hurt. Lauren was far too incapacitated to call out her pokémon. Orion acted quickly. He grabbed the first pokéball from his belt, threw it, only to have Volson shoot his electric gun at the sphere. It fell to the ground, broken. Orion immediately grabbed another, but was given the same treatment as Lauren. He fell to the ground, and grunted in agony.

"All three of us have read up on what happens when brats get involved with their pokémon," Volson's tone was venomous. His gun smoked and smelled of burnt flesh. "We can't have that, nope."

Drisle stepped in. "Clichéd as it may sound, you two know wayyy too much about our organization. Don't worry. We'll make it quick..." Drisle snickered, pulling out a grenade while Volson readied his electic gun once again.

Drisle's voice was the last thing they heard before blacked out.

"Goodbye, Pokémon Trainers."

* * *

_Another cliff hanger for you folks. Sorry I didn't get too many OCs in this one, but I'll make up for it. Seriously, I have to get the plot going. _

**_Credits:_**

**_Orion Quicksilver - Magmoor_**


End file.
